Humanitarian

Ugandan diplomat and humanitarian, Winnie Byanyima has been appointed as the new Executive Director of UNAIDS by the United Nations Secretary-General. She brings to the role more than 30 years of experience in political leadership and is set to advance a people-centered development agenda

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote donated $20 million to help change narratives about Africa in the world. The donation was made to The Africa Center in New York, towards reversing the trend of negative news on Africa. Funding is the greatest challenge for media startups in the Global South, and there is need for local and international donors to invest in sustaining and growing media organisations in their work.

Somali social rights activist Ilwad Elman has been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. The Prize honours persons who have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.

Southern Africa has yet to recover from Cyclone Idai, which devastated Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, leaving over 1 000 people dead. Now another tropical cyclone, dubbed “Kenneth”, is predicted to hit Mozambique and Tanzania in the coming week. Despite the tumultuous turn that the climate has taken, the vast majority of the people agitating for action are the continent’s young.

Cyclone Idai, which has been described by the UN as probably the worst such disaster ever in the southern hemisphere, has affected 2 million people in the three countries. The African Union has joined the ranks of bodies contributing to the relief effort, but has it given enough?

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Dr. Denis Mukwege has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018. Dr Mukwege was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Nadia Murad, a Yazidi-Kurdish human rights activist for “their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”.

When poor Kenyans need help, whether because a family member has been raped in one of Nairobi’s sprawling slums or someone they know disappeared after an interaction with the security services, they are unlikely to go to the police or to a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Instead, they seek out an activist like Wanjeri Nderu or Ruth Mumbi as their best hope.